Run
by PrincessLeah80
Summary: "He was running. Whether it was to or from somewhere he couldn't say. All he knew was there was screaming, far too much screaming, and it was coming from all around him." Oneshot, DMxHG, AU


He was running. Whether it was to or from somewhere he couldn't say. All he knew was there was screaming, far too much screaming, and it was coming from all around him. It was chaos and there was no rhyme or reason to it, other than it came down to the whims of a mad and powerful wizard who had spread his ridiculous influence to the point of war and death. What a stupid thing, for so many people to buy into the twisted notions of a man - if Voldemort could be called a man - who was exactly what he claimed to hate.

All Draco knew was that the bigotry that he had embraced for so long was utter nonsense, and he refused to claim it for a second more if it would save at least one person from the fate of falling to the ground with lifeless eyes, like so many around him were. He couldn't guarantee that it was going to change anything, though, since he was only running, as fast as he could, to Merlin knew where, and wasn't even bothering to fight for a side.

He was suddenly flung forward and found himself sprawled over a body he hadn't noticed in his path. He froze for a second as he realized it was one of his old DADA teachers, the one that he remembered with a slight pang that had married his cousin recently, or so it had been rumored among the Death Eaters. He tore his gaze away from the face of the man who hadn't deserved such an end, only to see his cousin lying feet away, sprawled in such a way that could only suggest that she wouldn't be standing up anytime soon either. Draco scrambled to get away from the couple, swallowing back the heaves that threatened to empty his stomach. He found himself tearing up, and made a panicked attempt to compose himself before letting loose a peal of manic laughter. Damn the Malfoy composure. Damn it to hell! He couldn't take it anymore.

He kept on running.

"HERMIONE!"

She could hear Ron screaming from somewhere behind her, but knew she hadn't a chance in hell to find him anymore, as she ducked a wave of acromantulas that swept between them. She tore across the grounds that she had considered the most beautiful she'd ever seen back when she had just been starting her first year and had so much hope for her life. Magical, that's what it had all been. There was nothing magical about Hogwarts now.

She was trying to be logical about it all. In her head, she had composed categorized lists of the most effective spells for a battle months ago, but she felt hysteria bubble up into her throat as she realized she could barely remember a thing of what she had planned. She found herself merely stunning Death Eaters in her direct line of sight as she ran - to where, she had no idea. With her heart pounding in her ears and the slick feel of blood under her feet as she ran, she couldn't bring herself to stand and fight.

She found herself laughing through panicky tears. Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age and Harry Potter's best friend. And she couldn't even pluck up enough courage to face another person in a duel. She couldn't even find the anger and the hate that had festered for ages in her chest. Why should she feel like harming another person? For that's all she could see, was people, regardless of belief or side, dropping like flies around her. She saw pain, fear, brutality, but couldn't see the so called enemy she had been plotting against with Harry and Ron for the last months.

She found herself aimlessly running, and ducked in between two of the greenhouses searching for a place, any place, to hide, when she collided into another body. She groaned as she felt her head collide with the person's chin, and fell to the ground hard. Scared and half-blinded by tears, she looked up into equally fearful, skittish eyes. She was shocked to find white-blonde hair and pale skin that could only belong to Malfoy connected to those eyes. They both sat there, frozen on the ground and breathing hard. A minute must have passed, before Malfoy blurted out the most shocking phrase she could have ever heard out of his mouth.

"I'm scared."

She stared at him, completely surprised, before responding in a barely audible voice.

"Me, too."

Another minute passed in silence before both, inexplicably, began to softly giggle, then laugh. Still staring at each other, they laughed until their sides hurt at the situation. Here, in the middle of a battle, no, a war, were two teenagers, sworn to hate each other for eternity, running and colliding and crying in fear at the terror around them. It was ridiculous.

They both cautiously calmed down, unafraid of the other attacking. They'd found an odd sense of comradeship in their confessions, and, at least in their eyes, had nothing to lose.

"I never would have thought you of all people would be afraid." he said quietly after a while. "You're…perfect. Always prepared. Always poised for the worse situation."

"Well I could say the same."

He nodded subtly. "It isn't at all what I thought it'd be."

She looked down at the grass, a small crease forming between her eyebrows. "It really isn't. I wish, well…I wish I hadn't prepared for it so much. I really thought it'd be so simple to fight to the death in a war against other people." She let a chuckle loose. "I was so stupid." She looked up to see Draco with a small smile that was genuinely charming, if a bit sad. She'd never seen him with that kind of expression, and felt almost privileged to witness a sight that rare.

They sat there on the cold, dewy grass in companionable silence, away from the screams and chaos that they'd run from, before Malfoy stood up quickly, looking off into the distance.

"I wanna run again. But not just from Hogwarts. For good. Away from all of these stupid fucks with their blood prejudices and reasons to fight for a madman." He stood there, in such a way that Hermione felt if she touched him, he was fragile enough to break.

"Me, too. But sometimes it isn't that easy." She felt guilt course through her as she remembered Harry and Ron and the Weasleys in the castle behind her. "Then again, I'm not sure if I could handle staying her a minute more."

Draco looked back down at her, with a look that told her he exactly understood what she meant. A glint of something happier flashed in his eyes, maybe hope, maybe friendship, she wasn't sure, as he whispered "Come with me." It had a pleading, apprehensive edge to it, that she knew was only a scratch on the surface of his emotions. And trembling, slowly, he held out his hand.

He knew she wouldn't say yes, that she'd refuse. Because she was noble, and a Gryffindor to the end, regardless of how she had reacted to this one battle. And he was a Slytherin, and her enemy 'til the end of time. She'd be smart to say no. Merlin, he'd say no if he was in her shoes. But he waited, to hear it, so he could go the rest of his life knowing how this conversation, this one collision of fate had ended. It had already changed him in some unimaginable way that he himself had yet to understand, and he knew every second of it was important. So he had to stay and hear her say no.

But she reached out, with a hand that was just as shaky and unsure, before pulling herself up to stand beside him.

"Ok. But where would we go?"

He gave her a small grin, one that reminded her of all the smirks that had been thrown her way in the past, only this was different. This one mattered. Maybe more than either of them realized.

"Anywhere."


End file.
